In the Special Commitment Center on McNeil Island, almost 300 sex offenders are detained indefinitely. The program protects society from predators. But it has been plagued by runaway legal costs, a lack of financial oversight and layers of secrecy, The Seattle Times has found.

"I don't know what I would have done if I was a juror and presented with the same information," says Bernadette McDonald, who was raped by Curtis Thompson after a King County jury declined to send him into the civil-commitment program.

In October 2003, a King County jury had to decide if repeat rapist Curtis Thompson should be freed from prison or committed to a sex-predator lockup on McNeil Island. Persuaded by the words of forensic psychologist Theodore Donaldson, the jurors set Thompson free. But 10 months later, he attacked four more women, killing one.

Washington has extensive problems with the legal bills of sex offenders who face indefinite lockup at the Special Commitment Center on McNeil Island. The state Office of Public Defense says it could save taxpayers $1 million annually if it took over defense costs statewide.

Who can be confined? To be indefinitely housed at the Special Commitment Center, an offender must meet the legal definition of a "sexually violent predator":
"Any person who has been convicted of or charged with a crime of sexual violence and who suffers from a mental abnormality or personality disorder which makes the person likely to engage in predatory acts of sexual violence if not confined in a secure facility." — Source: Revised Code of Washington